The Functions of the Human Eye

When patients make an appointment with their eye doctor in Miami, they often ask about how exactly the human eye functions. There are many intricate inner workings of the eye that allow the human brain to comprehend what a person is looking at. Most people know about the iris, cornea, pupil, and many other parts of the eye, but they don’t know just how these parts work in conjunction with each other. People who ask eye doctors in Miami this question are going to get an explanation that allows them to understand how the eye can turn light into comprehensible images.

How the Eye Turns Light into Understandable Images

When someone looks at an object, many things happen. However, all of these things happen so quickly that it doesn’t seem like anything is going on. Even though the functions of the eye work so quickly, many things are actually happening practically simultaneously.

● The cornea, or clear lens of the eye, is where light enters when staring at an object.

● The iris, or colored portion of the eye, acts somewhat like a diaphragm in that it controls the amount of light entering the eye. When it’s darker, the iris contracts and allows more light to enter the eye. When it’s lighter, the iris expands, making the pupil smaller and allows less light into the eye.

● Next, the crystalline lens of the eye, located directly behind the pupil, adjusts to focus on whatever someone is looking at. This part of the eye is why objects in the background look blurry when focusing on something up close, or vice versa.

● The next portion of the eye is the vitreous humor, which is the gel substance that fills the middle of the eyeball and allows it to retain a circular shape.

● The retina is located in the back of the eye, and this is where light will finally land. The retina is responsible for converting light images into electrical signals that the brain will comprehend.

● The optic nerves will transmit the signals to the visual cortex in the brain, which is the part that allows someone to comprehend images.

Why Some People See Things Differently

The aforementioned functions of the eye are a description of how someone with perfect sight will see. However, most people make appointments with their Miami Beach eye doctor because they have visual impairment issues. This is likely because the light traveling through their eye doesn’t focus on the retina perfectly. This will cause someone to see blurry images. Those who suffer from these issues need help refracting the light that enters their eyes, which is why an eye doctor in Miami Beach will prescribe contacts or glasses.